As Hurricane Helene intensifies and sets its sights on Florida with possible life-threatening impact, Florida Baptist Disaster Relief leaders are on “standby status,” preparing to respond immediately as needed.
David Coggins, FBDR director, is in ongoing communications and coordination with partners at Florida Department of Emergency Management and The Salvation Army to monitor the storm and its pending landfall in Florida. Coggins and his team also stay in regular contact with other partners in relief efforts, including Southern Baptists’ Send Relief, American Red Cross and first responders.
With a possible landfall as a Category 3 hurricane in Florida’s Big Bend on Thursday evening (Sept. 26), FBDR teams will move to “active status” and begin serving in communities impacted by the storm as soon as roads become safe and passable.
‘Unpredictable path’
Although the storm’s path is still somewhat unpredictable, if Hurricane Helene makes landfall in Florida’s Big Bend, this will be the third time in just over a year for that region to be hit with a hurricane. Category 1 Hurricane Debby made landfall there on Aug. 5 of this year. Category 3 Hurricane Idalia struck the area on Aug. 30, 2023, as the strongest hurricane ever to strike the region. Hurricane Idalia was the fourth hurricane since 2017 to make landfall in Florida with winds equal to or greater than 125 miles per hour, with only Hurricanes Irma, Michael and Ian exceeding those wind speeds.
Although the region is not densely populated, damages have been extensive, with many churches and homeowners still rebuilding, residents becoming hurricane-weary and blue tarps on roofs dotting the rural landscape.
On Sept. 24 Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency for 61 counties in Florida.
Preparation, prayer
In a recorded message, Florida Baptist executive director-treasurer Stephen Rummage called on Florida Baptists to join him in prayer.
“We’re praying for God’s grace. We’re praying for God’s mercy, and we know that God will take care of us as we walk with Him in these days.”
Amid the prayers and preparations, Coggins stated, “I am extremely grateful for our Florida Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers. We are just over a month since our last deployment, but I am confident that our volunteers will respond again to this challenge before us.”
Already, volunteers are connecting with regional FBDR leaders to let them know of their availability and readiness to serve. At the same time, all necessary equipment needed for relief efforts has been verified to be in proper working condition. In recent days FBDR has added a “quick response feeding unit” to its resources, allowing disaster relief teams to be prepared and respond quickly when opportunities arise.
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For updates on FLDR response, go to facebook.com/FLBaptistDR and flbaptist.org/dr-current-response.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Margaret Colson and originally published by the Florida Baptist Convention.
